Satellite detection of forest fire

Researchers say they will design a type of forest monitoring satellite that can monitor the western United States. Through photos, it is possible to detect the occurrence of forest fires that have just occurred, thereby quickly transferring the means to extinguish before the fire is out of control.

Photo: Daily mail

From the University of California, Berkeley, scientists designed the geostationary satellite line to bring sensors, cameras and analytical software to control forest fires. The budget is several hundred million dollars and they hope to be funded by the government or private funds.

According to physicist Carl Pennypacker, the forest fire in 1991 devastated more than 3,000 homes in Berkeley and Oakland. Therefore, this type of surveillance satellite will help avoid similar disasters. Besides, he also commented that due to global warming, the possibility of forest fires will be more frequent and widespread.

The Daily Mail quoted Dr. Carl Pennypacker as saying that the satellite can be built and controlled by the federal government and private sector partners like the Landsat satellite program. It costs only a few hundred million USD but saves 2.5 billion USD that the national budget has to spend on fire fighting every year.